Final: Louisiana Lafayette 35, FAU 21

December 1, 2012|By Dieter Kurtenbach

BOCA RATON —William Dukes' second touchdown of the game might have set the FAU single-game receiving yards record, but the Owls fell Louisiana-Lafayette 35-21 in their season finale Saturday at FAU Stadium, thanks to the Ragin' Cajuns capitalizing on two Graham Wilbert interceptions and a Damian Fortner fumble — turning them into the game-deciding touchdowns.

Alonzo Harris had three touchdowsn in the game, his third score, following the Fortner fumble, put ULL up by it's final margin of victory. Harris' second score, following Wilbert's second interception, gave ULL a two-score lead. It was Lance Broadway's athletic 15-yard touchdown throw to James Butler with 35 seconds remaining in the first half put the Cajuns in the locker room leading FAU 21-14 at halftime. That score was set up by Wilbert's first turnover.

The end-of-the-half touchdown capped a 96-yard drive, the score coming after Butler pryed the ball away from FAU safety Christian Milstead in the end zone. The throw from Broadway came from the 20 yard line as the quarterback was falling out-of-bounds.

It's a high scoring game, but the shootout has fallen off it's early pace. The teams quickly got to scoring in Saturday's regular-season finale, with the teams trading touchdowns in the first four plays of the game.

UL quarterback Terrance Broadway's 77-yard touchdown run on the third play of the game gave the Ragin' Cajuns an early lead that was equaled on FAU's first play from scrimmage.

Graham Wilbert's 75-yard touchdown pass to William Dukes was the longest play of the season for the Owls and knotted the game at 7-7.

The action subsided, and FAU jumped to a 14-7 lead on Jonathan Wallace's 11-yard touchdown run in the final minute of the first quarter.

UL's Alonzo Harris' rush for a 9-yard touchdown halfway through the second quarter to bring UL even.

Dukes' 193 receiving yards after the touchdown bypassed FAU's previous record of 183, set Anthony by Crissinger-Hill in 2004.

Two failed fourth-quarter fourth-down conversions ended the game for the Owls, who end their season at 3-9. The game was played in a brisk 2:57.